The Going Green Handbook: 52 Inspired Ideas for Saving Money and the Environment

By Alice Mary Alvrez

Start one new habit every week—and live the good green life.

Level up your eco-knowledge with these fifty-two creative ideas and easy ways to live a sustainable life that’s healthier for you and for the planet (as well as for your household budget). You’ll find DIY tips on changes big and small, including:

• Reducing waste
• Eating organic
• Keeping toxins out of your home
• Raising chickens
• Planting a bee-friendly garden
• Growing veggies, fruits, and herbs
• Composting
• Making toxin-free, eco-friendly cleansers and paint
• And more!

“Sustainable living is better in every way and this book shows how to do it.” —Becca Anderson, author of Every Day Thankful

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781633537613

Alice Mary Alvrez

Alice Mary Alvrez became a vegan ten years ago after a major health crisis and completely turned her life around. A women's studies teacher, she is also a dedicated gardener, cook and blogger. Alice is on a mission to help more people take charge of their own health through healthy eating. She lives with her family of five in Portland. Oregon

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Copyright © 2018 Alice Mary Alvrez

Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover Design: Elina Diaz

Theme and Layout: Marija Lijeskic & Elina Diaz

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The Going Green Handbook: 52 Inspired Ideas for Saving Money and the Environment

Library of Congress Cataloging

ISBN: (paperback) 978-1-63353-760-6, (ebook) 978-1-63353-761-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018941610

BISAC category code: SEL039000—SELF-HELP / Green Lifestyle

Printed in the United States of America

Out of all those millions and millions of planets floating around there in space, this is our planet, this is our little one, so we just got to be aware of it and take care of it.

—Paul McCartney

table of contents

Foreword

Going Organic

Make Your OWN Non-Toxic Cleaners

Get Some FRESH Air

The No Poo Movement

Get Around with Public Transport

Buy in Bulk

Become a Localvore

Something Old, Nothing New

Eco-Friendly Apps

Trash for Tigers

Choose Cloth Over Disposables

Don’t Be E-Wasteful

Plant a Tree, or Two

The Environmentally-Friendly Mailbox

Tuck in Your Water Heater

On-Demand Hot Water

Try a Natural Swimming Pool

Less Water Down the Drain

Heat with Wood

Have Some Hemp

Streamline Your Closet

Go Deet-Free

Green Up Your Dryer

Know Your Codes

Solid Lotion Bar

Healthy Herbal Tea

Embrace the E-Doc

Start Composting

Choosing a Refillable Water Bottle

Get Rid of Household Paper

How Clean is Clean?

LED Lights

Making Homemade Toothpaste

Go Vegetarian

Are We Recycling Enough?

A Greener House Paint

The Reality of the Electric Car

Upcycling Old Clothes

Try Paperless Gift-Giving

Drop the Pop

A Better Earth, One Cap at a Time

Respect Hazardous Waste

Beware of Greenwashing

Are Chemicals Bad?

The Plastic Bag Battle

Cleaning Day

Watch for Water Waste

Great Garbage Gyre

Green Up Your Fast Food

Get to Know GMO

Man vs Machine

Author Bio

Use Little, Live Big

The way the green movement has gathered steam in the last five years and entered mainstream culture seems as if it would be an environmentalist’s dream come true. Recycling is quite fashionable as is composting. Finally the neighbors have stopped gossiping about that pile of vegetable scraps you keep in your backyard or asking what is going on with your front yard rain barrel. Nevertheless, the idea of using less has gotten lost along the way.

Somewhere between the advent of curbside recycling and upcycling, both of which have been embraced by even the most recalcitrant, reducing—that basic tenet of the environmental movement—has been strangely absent from the conversation. In an era when environmentalism has become increasingly trendy, this concept has been almost entirely skipped over, and it’s not hard to understand why: nothing is more antithetical to our consumer culture than the idea of simply not consuming.

This means that while we keep hearing green in the new black, the concept of reducing anything has been entirely abandoned. It’s ironic, really, because the ability to reduce is perhaps the most important aspect of any environmental movement: reducing conspicuous consumption, reducing useless stuff, reducing your waste, and eventually—as a result of these endeavors—being able to reduce the amount of time you spend shopping, cleaning, and organizing your possessions.

My big suggestion would be to adopt the life motto of Use Little, Live Big. I joke to my friends that my afternoon Sunday church service is at the local Recycling & Reuse Center. It is definitely a ritual for my boyfriend and me. In fact, we just came back from there and saw many a well-loved item go to a joyous new owner.

You should only have possessions you really love; don’t let your things possess you. I have a neat-looking outbox on my front porch I fill during the week with items I can take to the Reuse Center at my neighborhood recycling center. As the days go by, magazines, extra pots and pans, odd cups and dishes, old electronics and anything that no longer has a place in my home goes there. My partner and I go there every weekend and it simply feels wonderful. The center has a lot of regulars and we are now recognized as purveyors of 100 percent discount bounty such as scented candles, barely-worn scarves, office supplies, odd crockery, and superb magazines as we are a household of voracious readers. I really get a kick out it when white-bearded elders run up to me with my scented candles and ask What does it smell like? They are delighted with Sugar Cookie Vanilla and Cinnamon Spice and such. I have seen amazing trades at the Reuse Center and witnessed a musician sit down and play a free sitar with virtuosity while a family with young children got a sorely needed washing machine and dryer. Moments like this remind me of the eco visionary teacher and writer Starhawk’s novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing, depicting a future where people return to a barter system and live harmoniously in community.

The sign at the entry of the Reuse Center is certainly wisdom to live by:

Take only what you need and share anything extra with your